Business strategy and advice from the team at Straight Talk Group… you’re in the right place to get things Straight.

Monthly Archives: October 2012

I’m getting ready to present our Marketing Workshop this Wednesday and thought I’d share a taste of the content with you. I’d love you to attend – just email me at lisa@straighttalk.com.au – but for those who can’t, I hope these quick tips will be useful and interesting.

One for each day of the week – no excuses for procrastinating on your marketing strategy!

1. What do you do differently/better than your competitors? Your business will thrive when customers and prospects understand why they should choose you. It could be something as simple as always running on time, providing free delivery, or service with a smile. Whatever it is that sets you apart, get clear on it, and make sure all your staff, clients and prospects are aware of it. OWN it!

2. All our clients are probably sick of our little mantra, “constant and consistent”, but we’re going to keep saying it because this is the key to winning marketing! Did you know that people need to be “reached” with some form of contact an average of 7+ times before they take any action?

3. Understand lag-time. This goes with #2 – don’t take a once-off marketing action and expect immediate results. Not only do you need to be constant and consistent (repeat after me!), you also need to play the waiting game. You will likely see results of any action for quite some time afterwards. I just called the electrician who gave me a fridge magnet 3 years ago…

4. Make the intangible tangible. Help your audience understand the value in your work. For example, if your business has a 5 step process that delivers the client a result, tell them what it is! Clients often only see the end result and won’t think about the steps you’ve taken to ensure quality – unless you tell them.

5. People pay attention to what interests them. I know this seems obvious, but how often do you see promotional material that makes you booooooored. How can you make your message more interesting and fun? What are the people you want to engage with interested in?

6.Remember that customers are value – NOT price – focussed. Despite what you might think, only 15% shop on price! Give your audience a reason to choose your business rather than trying to offer the lowest price.

7. Attend our Marketing workshop this week! we can help you apply these strategies and lots more to your business, starting during the workshop! email me at lisa@straighttalk.com.au or comment below to save your spot.

I hope you enjoyed these tips. I’d love to know which one jumped out at you and how you’ll be applying it in your business, or if you are already using these strategies. Drop me a line!

Today we’re hearing from a talented young lady with great hair, fine taste in movies and some (plenty) of creative input on this blog. Claire Trevelyan is the resident PR and Communications specialist in our office, and works with clients to share their amazing and fascinating stories (they all have them in bucketloads!) with the world. Here’s some tips for tailoring content to engage your prospects and community with a powerful, cost-effective little gem called a media release.

Begin your media release with a short paragraph that provides a quick overview of the news and why it is important. Work on making this paragraph engaging – we’ve all experienced the desire to put down or skim over an article 2 lines in because it made us snore! Make sure the language you use is appealing to a wide range of people – leave out industry-specific jargon, and try to tell a story .

Think about WHO will be seeing the release, WHO you want to see it and what those people would choose to read about. For example, John the Apple farmer might just want people to know that he has great apples for sale in Yankalilla, but do Nan and Stan (who, by the way LOVE apples, and live 10 minutes away from John) want to read about Apples for sale over their morning latte? Not really. Instead, they’d rather read about how John took over from this business from his father, who migrated to SA from Germany in 1910 and loved square dancing – which is why John’s new pest-resistant Apple breed is named “Square Dance”. That’s a story (and it also tells Nan and Stan that they can buy great Apples, just down the road – in a way that will stick in their mind for longer.)

Next, provide some background information on the product or service. This is your opportunity to “educate your audience” about why they need your product and service, and start to frame up why you are the best person to provide it to them.

Remember to write your release in terms that readers, consumers, your target audience, and the general public will understand. As I mentioned earlier, you would do well to avoid industry terminology, unless you are intending to sendyour release to an industry specific publication. In any other situation you run the risk of losing your reader’s interest when they don’t understand a term; and worse, you could be perceived as rude and self-important. Remember: people like to feel smart.

Your text should explain the purpose, target market, and benefits of your product or service, and encourage the reader to find out more, visit your website, contact you for more information, recommend your product to a friend, or sell your product to management. You might have heard Lisa refer to this as a “call to action” – it is essential for getting value out of the work you put into the press release.

The final paragraph should briefly describe your company and the products and services it provides. Include a summary of other products and services you provide, and a brief history of the company. This is a great place to make a joke or play on words if that is your “thing” – a little personality is a winning ingredient, and readers feel much more engaged by a “person” than they do when a “business” is doing the talking. You might like to include something about your location to ensure that readers know where to find you.

Finish off with “For more information, contact: ” as the last sentence so that the journalist who picks up your story can clarify details with you or ask for additional elements of the story.

We look forward to seeing your business in the media — happy story telling!